Women of the Pleasure Quarters (35 page)

glossary

ageya
    house of assignation, where patrons made appointments with courtesans in the pleasure quarters; precursor of the geisha teahouse.

asobi
    literally, “play”; time spent with geisha, courtesans, or other entertainers.

awase
    lined kimono worn in autumn and winter.

biwa
    four- or five-stringed traditional Japanese lute played with a plectrum.

cha-tate onna
    “tea-brewing women”—precursors of the geisha.

-chan
    suffix used for children or intimate friends as in Ken-chan (akin to “cute little Ken” or “Kenny”).

chokibune
    light, swift, single-oared boats, used to take customers along the River Sumida to the Yoshiwara pleasure quarter.

daimy
    provincial princes or warlords who governed their own domains but had to swear loyalty to the shogun.

dango
    round, white rice flour dumplings, steamed on skewers.

danna
    literally “husband” or “master”; a male customer or patron of geisha or
tayu.

Edo
    name for Tokyo until 1868; also name of period of Japanese history from 1603 to 1868.

Edokko
    “child of Edo”; a native of Edo, Edo born and bred.

enkai
    banquet, geisha party (word used by customers but not geisha).

eri
    stiff brocade collar or neckband worn under the top layer of kimono.

erikae
    “changing of the collar”; ritual marking the transition from maiko to geisha.

furisode
    “swinging-sleeve” kimono worn by unmarried girls; term used for fake maiko of Asakusa.

gei
    arts or entertainment.

geiko
    “arts child”; term for geisha in Kyoto and some other cities.

hakama
    traditional starched and pleated man’s kimono.

hana-dai
    “flower money”; a geisha’s wages.

hanamachi
    “flower town”; geisha district.

han-gyoku
    “half-jewel”; trainee geisha in Tokyo (the equivalent of a maiko in Kyoto).

haori
    a loose, square-cut jacket worn over the kimono; adopted by Fukagawa geisha from the late eighteenth century.

hari
    “attitude” or “style”; used of the Yoshiwara courtesans of the seventeenth century.

hiki-iwai
    celebration of retirement from geisha life.

homu baa
    “home bar”; a small private bar in a teahouse.

ichigen san kotowari
    “the first-time customer is refused”; the “no strangers” rule followed by geisha.

iki
    “chic,” “style,” or “cool”; originated among the geisha of Edo.

jiutamai
    form of classical Japanese dance practiced by geisha, particularly the geisha of Gion, linked to the dance forms of the Noh theater.

joruri
    Japanese narrative music.

kabuki
    traditional popular theater, characterized by spectacular drama, splendid costumes, and melodramatic performance style; many kabuki plays tell stories of the floating world.

kabuku
    “to frolic” or “to be wild or outrageous.”

kaburenjo
    “music dance practice place”; headquarters of each geisha district, housing a theater, classrooms, and the union offices of that district.

kamuro
    child attendant(s) of a courtesan.

karaoké
    “empty barrel”; popular evening entertainment in Japan, in which customers sing to recorded accompaniment.

kata
    “form”; the proper way of doing something.

katsuyama
    the most complex of the maiko’s topknot hairstyles, named after a seventeenth-century courtesan who popularized it.

kawaramono
    “riverbed folk”; underclass in Edo-period Japan, primarily popular entertainers, including musicians, jesters, actors, and courtesans, who performed in dry riverbeds.

keisei
    “castle topplers”; courtesans of legendary beauty.

kemban
    the geisha union or registry office; each geisha district has its own kemban.

kiyomoto
    form of classical narrative song practiced by geisha.

koky
    “North-Chinese-barbarian bow”; ancient three-stringed lute played with a bow.

k
shi
    second rank of courtesan.

koto
    thirteen-stringed classical zither.

ko-uta
    “short song”; characteristic geisha songs accompanied by the shamisen.

maiko
    “dancing girl”; apprentice geisha in Kyoto.

mama-san
    “mother”; owner of a bar.

maneki nekko
    lucky “money-beckoning cat.”

minarai
    “learning by observation”; early stage of geisha training before becoming a maiko.

misedashi
    “store opening”; maiko’s debut.

mizu shobai
    “water trade”; the sex industry.

mizu yokan
    eggplant-colored jelly made of aduki beans and eaten in summer.

mizuage
    “raising or offering up the waters”; sexual initiation of an apprentice geisha or courtesan.

momme
    silver nugget; 1/60 of a
ryo
in Edo-period Japan.

nigo-san
    “number two wife”; concubine.

Nihon buyo
    “Japanese dance”; the main form of classical Japanese dance practiced by geisha, closely linked to the dance and dramas of kabuki.

Noh
    Japanese classical theater, patronized by the samurai classes since
the late fourteenth century; considered “respectable” whereas kabuki was not.

obi
    wide, stiff sash worn around the waist, over a kimono.

ochaya
    “honorable teahouse”; place where banquets are held and geisha work, offering music, dance, and conversation; food, if offered, is brought in from a caterer.

odori-ko
    “dancing child”; professional dancing girls.

odori-kai
    dance meet.

ofuku
    maiko’s second hairstyle; in the past it signified that she was no longer a virgin; now the mark of a second-year maiko.

ohayo dosu
or
ohayo san dosu
    “good morning” (dialect of Kyoto women, particularly geisha).

oiran
    highest rank of courtesan in Edo, from the eighteenth century onward.

oka basho
    “hill places”; unlicensed teahouse and brothel areas in old Japan.

okami-san
    proprietress of a geisha house or teahouse.

ok
san
    “mother”; proprietress of a geisha house.

ki-ni
    “thank you” (Kyoto dialect).

okiya
    house where geisha live.

okobo
    high wooden clogs worn by maiko.

on
-san
    “older sister.”

onnagata
    male kabuki actors specializing in women’s roles.

onsen
    spa; hot spring resort.

onsen geisha
    geisha who works at a hot spring resort.

otokoshi
    “male staff”; geisha’s assistant, nowadays usually a middle-aged woman rather than a man.

o-zashiki
    “honorable tatami room”; geisha term for a banquet or party.

rabu
    Japanese phoneticization of “love.”

rakugo
    Japanese comic monologue.

ro
    loosely woven silk gauze, used to make summer kimonos.

r
nin
    “wave men”; lordless samurai.